I am a type A, no doubt about it. So I routinely skip caffeine except in the small doses that come from my indulgence in dark chocolate. But as evidence mounts that caffeine may ward off dementia and help reverse symptoms in those with Alzheimer’s, I am starting to eye the caffeinated life.

When mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) were dosed with caffeine – the equivalent of 5 cups of coffee a day—their impaired memory improved.

And, back-to-back studies published online in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease show caffeine significantly decreased abnormal levels of the protein linked to AD, both in the brains and in the blood of the mice models of AD—that is mice genetically engineered to develop AD.

This means that caffeine may be a useful treatment for people with AD.

What about prevention?
Other studies show some tantalizing evidence that daily caffeine may strengthen something called the blood brain barrier—a natural system that limits what enters into brain tissue—keeping out some of the things (e.g., high loads of cholesterol) that can lead to dementia in adults.
Still other studies show that daily caffeine prevented the onset of AD in mice.

What to do now? You know the drill. If caffeine has been ruled out by your MD, stick to that advice. But for us Type As, the evidence is mounting that a cup or two of caffeine in the morning may be worth a jitter or two. Keep watching for the human trials that give more solid evidence.

Sources:
University of South Florida (USF) researchers at the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center

Byrd Alzheimer's Institute in Tampa, Florida
Journal of Neuroinflammation
Society for Neuroscience